CAS GE 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Primary Production, Climax Community, Germination

• School: Boston University
• Department: Geography & Environment
• Course: CAS GE 100
• Professor: Robert Kaufmann

Document Summary

Disturbance- killing/displacement/damaging of 1+ individuals that directly or indirectly create an opportunity for new individuals/colonies to be established. Unpredictability matters because evolution has no way to deal with an unpredictable event before it happens. Succession- pattern of changes in species after a disturbance. Community- groups of species that occur concurrently following a disturbance. Climax community- community that persists for a long period after disturbance. Macroenvironment- conditions over a large area, microenvironment- conditions @ scales at which organisms live. Ex) photosynthesis- starts negative b/c, net productivity levels out b/c light is no longer the limiting factor. Early- long seed dispersal, light triggers germination, long max. dormancy period, high allocation flexibility, high recovery from stress, high nutrient acquisition. Late- short seed dispersal, carb. dioxide triggers germination, short max. dormancy period, low allocation flexibility, low recovery from stress, low nutrient acquisition. Early- low biomass, high net primary productivity, short/simple food chains, low species diversity, broad niche, leaky mineral cycles, low stability.